Sanskrit Accents: worth learning.

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VEDIC ACCENTS: In order to have full conception of the inner meaning of the Vedic prose, poetry and lyric (the Yajus, the Rk, and eh Saman), one should be familiar not only with the grammar of the language, and the etymology of words, he should also be conversant with proper accentuations. The old interpreters of the Vedic verses have laid great emphasis on proper accentuations. Being the earliest divine human speech, the words of the Vedic language are in their most fluid and plastic state. A slight change of accents brings about very often a considerable change in the meaning of the words. And therefore, our ancestors, not only made heroic attempts to preserve the Vedic texts to this day by reciting and memorizing, they did their best to retain the accents also. Panini, the great grammarian and the author of Astadhyayi devotes a number of aphorisms in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th chapters, and Dayananda edited a collection of these Sutras, and published it under the title of the Sauvara with notes and explanations.

 

… It must be remembered that the readings of the Vedic texts are of two types: . pATha (pd paQ), with each word (.) or term spoken clearly and distinctly,(.) and when these padas are connected together according to the rules of euphony or sandhi, we get the sa.nhitA pATha (sFour types of accents - ..only vowels (..) are accentuated(.) (The accents are:)

udAtta

 

udAtta (%daÄ),anudAtta (AnudaÄ), svarita (Svirt), and kshaipra (]Eà).

 

(Pg. 251.) Venkata Madhava has thus clearly stated, that if the accent differs, the interpretation should also be changed.

 

- (Veda Prathisthana Publication New Delhi) Rgveda Samhita Vol. 1, Pg. 237

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jai sri krishna! -maadhav

"yuddhAya krita nischaya..." -Krishn